


Where the (Ley) Lines Overlap

by MercurySkies



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Magic, Modern Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 20:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5799229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurySkies/pseuds/MercurySkies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He spends the majority of Wednesday night at the pub thinking back to the first time he’d crashed into Arthur. Besides the obvious attraction he’d felt beneath the initial rage the prat had incited within him he’d also felt something else. It was like a huge electric shock. As if, as he’d been following the ley line, he’d been building up static and as soon as he and Arthur had touched it had been expelled, lighting up every nerve with pure energy. He ignores Gwaine asking him if he’ll buy another round, he’s already bought two and he won’t bend to his whims after the bicycle incident. It clicked into place when he’d referred to the book. Points where ley lines cross are significant spiritually, they mark points where the veil between worlds is thin or where the energy of the earth itself is particularly powerful.</p><p>It meant there was something about Arthur, something more, something important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where the (Ley) Lines Overlap

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little idea I had after talking about hipster!Merlin to some folks on Twitter, particular the wonderful Aro.
> 
> This is a gratuitous use of the concept of ley-lines and the science and mythology of such things extends far beyond my own knowledge and comprehension.

Merlin has been following the ley line for at least ten minutes, trying in vain to brush a damp fringe from his eyes as he keeps them trained intently on the ground almost as if he can see the tenuous thread of energy. His hand catches on the dragon cuff curled delicately around his ear, and the tug would make him hiss if it weren’t for the frigid rain that had made them numb quite some time ago. He keeps to the pavement mostly, trying not to stray into the road distracted by the pulse of magic beneath the concrete. His woollen jumper is thick and heavy, the dampness weighing it down and sticking it to his skin. He pays it little heed as he hoists his satchel higher up on an exposed shoulder, eyes always to the ground as his magic fans out around him, instilling in him a sense of excitement as the line grows stronger, strengthens beneath his feet.

 

There’s a fleeting thought of how mad he must look, a tall, almost gangly looking guy staring and smiling at the ground before he suddenly isn’t looking at the ground anymore, the grey concrete replaced by that of the sky. “Watch where you’re going for God’s sake.” An angry voice growls and Merlin hauls himself upright in order to get a good look at the guy who clearly wasn’t looking where he was going either. The guy is, well he’s alright looking Merlin supposes, all blond hair and broad shoulders and Merlin is starting to not mind that his new sitting position has bought him more or less eye level to the guy’s crotch.

 

He must’ve zoned out again as by the time he had thought it appropriate to probably look up, the guy is crouching in front of him, angry expression tinged with concern. “I said are you alright? Or did the fall knock the last remnants of sense out of you.” Merlin stands, wet and huddled against the ever heavier rain, he feels silly now, the strong twine of energy he’d been following has suddenly ebbed away leaving him cold. “I’d be surprised if you've ever had any sense at all.” He raises an eyebrow in disdain, chewing somewhat nervously on his lip ring. The other man huffs and simply walks away clearly unwilling to further grace Merlin with his cantankerous presence. He mutters a quick good riddance, trying to shrug the sodden and stretched jumper back over his shoulders to no avail, leaving the trail he’d been following far behind.

 

* * *

 

Over the next couple of days Merlin senses the same ley line many times, on the way to his favourite coffee shop, on his way out of his myth and medievalism lecture, on his way home. Countless times he feels the surging, invisible trail but doesn't follow it, hardly having the time until one unusually warm day in April. He’s enjoying the warmth and soft breeze when he feels it like a sharp tug at the base of his spine, causing him to stop and start walking in the opposite direction. His magic flares out like spindly fingers trying to reach out and grasp it but the continues, leading him out across a lush park he passes every day on his way to class. He tries to divide his attention between the energy he can feel racing beneath the earth and his surroundings but fails miserably as he hears someone call his name.

 

"Merlin!" The voice screeches and he has a second to acknowledge it as Gwen's before, for the second time that week, he's met with a firm body tackling him to the ground. Before he can catch his breath and recover from what had felt like an electric shock, he finds himself bracketed by strong arms, a heaving chest inches from his own and the light of the sun back lighting blond hair. He wonders if he really has hit his head one too many times as he looks blearily at the man glaring angrily down at him. "You!" He exclaims sitting back on his haunches and Merlin just blinks as the sun shines directly in his eyes. Thankfully he's saved from having crashed into the same handsome stranger by Gwen's sudden appearance at his side.

 

"Oh my God! Merlin are you okay? I tried to warn you but you looked like you were in a world of your own, I mean honestly..." He lets her fuss over him and help him to his feet as the football game he has apparently interrupted continues again. But, Merlin realises as they settle at Gwen's shady spot beneath an ash tree, they're down one player as the disgruntled blond flops gracefully to the grass beside them, sweat damp shirt clinging to his skin.

 

Merlin rests his back against the tree and tries to keep from ogling. The man has the worst manners for someone who carries himself like royalty but he's easy on the eye and now that the pleasant hum of the ley line has dissipated and he has a niggling ache between his shoulder blades, he welcomes the distraction of a pretty face and well, pretty everything else. "I'm sorry for um throwing you off your game or whatever." Merlin says honestly.

"What were you even doing?" He scoffs.

"Arthur! Don't be so rude! It's not as if you pay much attention to anything else but the game when you play with Gwaine and the others."

"Of course not!" Arthur replies, "The point is to win, not kick a ball around mindful of the gangly idiot going for a leisurely afternoon stroll across the pitch."

“Well from the sounds of it you’re not mindful of much else anyway.” Merlin mutters, buoyant mood souring rapidly.

 

“What  _ were _ you doing Merlin? Though it’s good to see you smiling again, I really am sorry about Oliver.” She says sweetly and Merlin has only just stopped internally wincing at the sound of his ex’s name. “Yeah well it’s not your fault he’s actually a prick Gwen.”

“Boy trouble?” Arthur looks up at him a look of indifference juxtaposing his question.

“Not anymore,” Merlin replies “I was following a ley line Gwen. Same one for the past few days, it’s weird though becau-”

“Ley lines? What bollocks.” Arthur scoffs interrupting from his place sprawled out with uncanny grace.

 

“Oh fuck this.” Merlin curses, quickly getting to his feet. He’ll be damned if he continues to sit around listening to Arthur mock him. “I’ll call you Gwen, we’ll go for coffee or dinner or something.” He goes to walk away but Gwen catches his wrist.

“Don’t listen to him Merlin c’mon, it’s been so long since we've hung out together. Stay, please.” Merlin looks between Gwen’s pleading face and Arthur’s smug smile and gently shakes himself free. “Nah,” he says shaking his head and smiling, looking pointedly between the two of them “I know when I’m not wanted.”

 

* * *

 

To Arthur it’s quite the contrary. Somehow, between the two brief incidences they had quite literally bumped into each other, Merlin had managed to worm his way into Arthur’s thoughts. Ridiculous Merlin with his piercings and artfully dishevelled appearance, his vintage looking satchel and too big ears and stupid blue eyes and  _ stuff _ . Arthur had half the mind to hate him before he discovered he had a bit of a thing for the hipster types. He denies it of course, he’s only met the guy twice, both in less than ideal circumstances so he manages to convince Gwen to let him accompany her to their coffee date.

 

Arthur’s breath catches as he spots Merlin walking past the window of the little cafe toward the door. He’s wearing a crisp white shirt with a fitted blue suit jacket with a bright red scarf looped around his neck. There are glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and his battered satchel swings from his shoulder as he brings a hand up to push back some of his unruly hair as he pushes the door open. Arthur makes quickly toward the counter to buy a drink, not prepared to speak to this newly dashing Merlin. Christ why didn’t anyone  _ warn _ him.

 

"Gwen I'm so sorry I'm late my dissertation advisor went on and on and I had that interview before hand - wha? Gwen why is  _ he _ here?" Arthur hears him hiss as he throws himself into the seat opposite Gwen. "Could you not just schedule a separate coffee date with your boyfriend?"

 

"I'm sure she has and Lance probably makes a much better date," Arthur says retaking his seat at the table and placing a mug in front of him "a mocha, looks like you need it." He nods at Merlin's hair, still sticking up in all directions. Merlin raises a hand to flatten it as he eyes his coffee with suspicion. "For Christ's sake I haven't poisoned it, you're not worth the jail time." Merlin glares but takes a sip anyway, his expression softens with a sweet sigh that makes Arthur flush in a way he disguises by taking off his scarf giving the impression that it's due to the warm cafe. "How did you know?" Merlin asks softly, slipping off his glasses, elegant fingers folding the frames away and into his breast pocket. Arthur's eyes follow the movement from start to finish, mesmerised by its strange fluidity. He just shrugs in reply.

 

"How did the meeting go?" Gwen asks and Arthur finds himself enraptured as Merlin talks about finally being able to conduct his research after a few more tweaks and resubmitting it for ethical approval. He's vibrant and intelligent and Arthur curses his heart for feeling like it's trying to beat out of his chest every time Merlin smiles. Everything grinds to a halt when Arthur touches Merlin lightly on the arm whilst laughing at something he said and Merlin almost falls out of his chair. Merlin stares, eyes wide and confused and before Arthur can even apologise he’s out of his seat and dashing from the cafe, his coffee still steaming on the table.

 

“What-? Um.” Arthur stutters extremely confused and panicking. Gwen shrugs.

“He does that sometimes.”

“Because I-”

“Oh no he probably suddenly remembered something. He can be a little...”

“Weird?” Arthur supplies.

“Absent minded.” Gwen says looking reproachful and Arthur lowers his gaze to his coffee, taking a sip and hiding his reddening face behind the mug.

 

* * *

 

Merlin crashes through the door of the little ramshackle town house he shares with his housemates Will and Gwaine and trips up the stairs to his room. The sheer amount of clutter could potentially be a health hazard but he trips and stumbles over piles of clothes and books to a ramshackle bookcase by the window. From it he drags a book that has the makings of an ancient tome about it. Flipping it open and wasting no time savouring the scent of mildewed pages, he reads for minutes or hours he can’t tell.

 

Afterwards he spends the majority of Wednesday night at the pub thinking back to the first time he’d crashed into Arthur. Besides the obvious attraction he’d felt beneath the initial rage the prat had incited within him he’d also felt something else. It was like a huge electric shock. As if, as he’d been following the ley line he’d been building up static and as soon as he and Arthur had touched it had been expelled, lighting up every nerve with pure energy. He ignores Gwaine asking him if he’ll buy another round, he’s already bought two and he won’t bend to his whims after the bicycle incident. It clicked into place when he’d referred to the book. It said that points in which ley lines crossed were significant spiritually, that they marked points where the veil between worlds was thin or where the energy of the earth itself was particularly powerful.

 

It meant there was something about Arthur, something more, something  _ important _ .

 

* * *

 

_ There is something about today _ Arthur thinks as he makes his way to the cafe on the corner. He’d woken up that morning from a strange dream about swords and caves full of crystals feeling fuzzy and weird. He rounds the corner and is just about to open the door when it suddenly dissipates, like he’s only just put his contacts in and the world is in full technicolour. He steps up to order, shaking his head when someone calls his name.

 

It’s Merlin, holed up in an isolated corner of the shop, glasses perched almost on the tip of his nose, drowning in a scarf that looks entirely too big, as if it’s the scarf that’s wearing him. He waves and saunters over with his coffee after ordering.

 

Merlin is typing furiously but looks up when Arthur approaches. He smiles so bright Arthur pauses from pulling out the chair opposite. Merlin reaches over and gently touches the thin skin at Arthur’s wrist, the resultant shock makes Merlin laugh and his eyes twinkle in a way that tell him Merlin knows something he doesn't. Arthur almost drops his coffee. He all but falls into the seat and lets the mug clatter onto the table top. “Sorry. Hi.” Merlin says still smiling. He taps his forefinger to the tip of Arthur’s nose and Arthur receives another shock strong enough to make sure he stays cross eyed for a second longer than is normal. Merlin cackles, throwing his head back so it  _ thunks _ softly against the plush high back of the chair he’s curled up in. It’s the most disgustingly adorable thing Arthur’s ever seen.  _ There’s something about today. _

 

“Go out with me.” He blurts out and Merlin, worryingly undignified, chokes on a snort.

“What?!” Merlin gasps, shoving his glasses up his nose so violently Arthur worries he might blind himself with the very instrument that’s supposed to improve his vision.

“Please. Go out with me. Tonight.” Arthur tries to maintain eye contact but he can feel his face heat and the contents of the sugar packet he was planning to stir into his coffee was now in tatters, scattered across the varnished wood.

 

“I- Okay. Where should I-? Because I don’t have a car or a bike, well anymore...”

“I’ll pick you up at eight. What happened to the bike?” Arthur asks suddenly relieved.

“My friend Gwaine took off with it when he was drunk and got hit by a car.”

“Oh my- Is he okay?”

“Not when I was through with him. Bastard got away with a sprained ankle but my bike was wrecked. I guess it was old anyway.” Merlin shrugs, smiling as if amused by the memory.  _ There’s something about today _ , he thinks.  _ There’s something about him. _

 

* * *

 

As dates go, it was probably one of the best that Merlin has ever been on but his track record didn’t really mean there was much to live up to. After a delicious candlelit meal and drinks at a swanky hotel bar Arthur had driven him home and Merlin had invited him in for coffee. That’s how Arthur found himself sitting on a lumpy sofa drinking coffee that tastes faintly like dirt as Merlin paces the living room in front of him. “We don’t have to do anything.” Arthur says tentatively “I really did just come in for coffee.” Merlin stops then looking startled. He blushes a bright red. “It’s not that.” He says in a rush. “It’s just that I really need to tell you something but tonight was lovely and I really like you so I kind of don’t want to tell you because it could ruin everything but I need to tell you, it wouldn't be fair otherwise.” Merlin stops, breathing heavily as he wrings his hands.

 

“Okay.” Arthur says taking a deep breath and depositing the dirt coffee on a rickety looking end table. “Well I know that I really like you too, and that regardless of what you tell me I’ll always value your honesty. We can figure it out from there.” Merlin freezes and stares and then just talks.

 

“Well the second time we met I told you I was following a ley line and you rolled your eyes and scoffed much like you’re doing now.” Arthur rolls his eyes and scoffs. “And I didn’t think anything of it when the trail I’d felt just disappeared. But then it kept happening. That day in the cafe with Gwen, the path was running parallel to me as I made my way to meet her and when I stepped inside and saw you it dissipated again. I thought it might’ve been coincidence but then you touched me.” Merlin takes a shuddery breath. “And it burst against my skin like tiny lightning bolts and that's not normal, my magic has  _ never  _ responded like that.”

 

“Your magic?” Arthur asks, incredibly confused.

“Yes, my magic.” Merlin replies quickly.

“So what you’re trying to tell me is that you’re a magician?” Arthur says slowly.

“It depends what you mean by ‘magician’”

“You do magic tricks-”

“No not tricks, they aren't tricks.” Merlin says frustrated “I don’t  _ do _ magic, I  _ have _ magic. I am magic.”

“Oh c’mon Merlin. There’s no such thing as magic. If you’re magic, show me.”

 

Merlin makes a lamp float from one end of the room to another. Arthur looks on unimpressed, the gold of Merlin’s irises going unnoticed. Merlin cups his hand and whispers what Arthur perceives as nonsense and a butterfly takes flight from his palms as he opens them again, fluttering daintily before coming to rest on the rim of Arthur’s long cold coffee. Still Arthur is unmoved. Sighing heavily Merlin plants his feet and fixes his gaze on Arthur’s. The floor trembles and slowly, daisies begin to grow and poke through the cracks in the floorboards until there are dozens and dozens of them and they’re up to their ankles in them.

 

Arthur passes out.

 

* * *

 

When he comes to he lays with his eyes closed for a few minutes enjoying gentle but shaking fingers in his hair and the cool, caress of a cold compress being gently placed on his forehead. He listens.

 

“Oh God Gwen what if I've killed him? What if he is literally pushing up daisies? I was so scared when he passed out I forgot to stop them from growing, they’re all a foot tall. He’s gonna think I’m mad.”

“You got that right.” Arthur croaks, sitting up on his elbows and grimacing as the compress slides a moist trail down his face. “Oh.” Merlin says and his face contorts, falling from worried to devastated. “Yep. Bye Gwen.” He hangs up and pockets his phone and then takes the damp wash cloth from where it came to rest on Arthur’s chest and proceeds to wring it nervously, tiny droplets of water staining his jeans dark blue.

 

“You’re Merlin and you’re mad and you’re endearing and hot and smart and sweet and kind and... magic.” Arthur smiles and then sneezes “so can you do something about the daisies because I have hay-fever.” Merlin chokes out a wet laugh and Arthur kisses the watery smile from his lips. Gold explodes behind his eyelids and a buzz hums through him like he’s touched a live wire. “Mmm what  _ is _ that?” Arthur says pulling back, resting their foreheads together. “I’m not sure but I think we’re both powerful wells of the Earth’s energy or so to speak. So we both leave different ley lines, following behind us wherever we go like unravelling thread. I think this,” Merlin trails a fingertip from Arthur’s wrist, down his forearm, eliciting the same electric shock sensation “is what happens when ley lines overlap.”

 

“Okay so a lot of what you just said makes no sense to me but the gist of it is  _ we’re _ magic?”

“We’re magic.” Merlin whispers with a smile.


End file.
